Paris--
_Dear George and Gertrude_,--
The accumulation of my fortune, now largely invested in prime
securities, has been a surprise and often a burden to me, and with it
came, as I now clearly see, great responsibilities.
Money is power, and most people zealously seek it. Many fail to get it,
and often those who do succeed, fail to keep it. Wealth unsought comes
only to a few, while others, with perhaps hereditary financial
instincts, pursue with certainty of success the golden fleece.
My early experiences with poverty, and now with wealth, and my late
extensive observations have impressed upon me, as never before, the
common brotherhood of mankind. The great problem of our age is the
proper administration of wealth, so that the ties of brotherhood may
still bind together the rich and poor in harmonious relations. What
shall be the laws of accumulation and distribution? To decide this
wisely the discretion of our present and future legislators will be
heavily burdened.
The condition of many races is better to-day on the foundations on
which society is built, than on the old ones tried and abandoned. What
were yesterday's luxuries are to-day's necessities.
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